In Memoriam: PANNA RITTIKRAI
Our hearts go out to the friends and family of actor, martial artist, stunt coordinator and all-around filmmaker Panna Rittikrai, best known for his intergral role in helping bring Thai action cinema to the forefront of the film industry between his early career as a stuntman and an action director and performer as of late, including the Thai action classic Born To Fight and its 2004 remake, Ong Bak, Tom Yum Goong 1 and 2, Dynamite Warrior, Bangkok Knockout, and many more.
Rittikrai‘s condition was a surprise to me several months ago (I can’t remember when). I chose not to speak too much on it until I learned all the facts and even now, not everything is clear on his diagnosis how long he has been ill, except for those closer to him with a more informed position on the issue; The official reports and posts I’ve read thusfar indicated an unnamed disease in addition to today’s news of liver failure.
Ironically, and sadly, today also marks the 41st anniversary since the passing of another trailblazer in martial arts cinema, Bruce Lee.
Panna Rittikrai
2/17/61 — 7/20/14.